1. Field
Aspects of the present disclosure relate to gel polymer electrolytes, lithium batteries including the gel polymer electrolytes, and methods of preparing the gel polymer electrolytes.
2. Description of the Related Art
Flexible electrical devices, such as electronic paper, are getting much attention as next generation products. Secondary batteries may be used as energy sources for flexible electrical devices. Secondary batteries for flexible electrical devices need to be flexible and should not allow leakage of an electrolytic solution to occur. Accordingly, an electrolyte suitable for secondary batteries may be a polymer electrolyte.
Flexible electrical devices may be manufactured by deposition-type thin filming or printing. Printing may be suitable for manufacturing of flexible electrical devices but the deposition method is complicated and expensive. Accordingly, secondary batteries need to be manufactured by printing, and correspondingly, polymer electrolytes included in secondary batteries need to be manufactured by printing.
A conventional polymer electrolyte is prepared by photo-curing or thermo-curing an electrolytic solution including a monomer and an initiator by exposing the electrolytic solution to an electronic beam or to heat. These methods require a separate curing device and are not suitable for printing. Accordingly, there is a need to develop a polymer electrolyte that is suitable for printing without a separate curing device.